When You Wish Upon A Star
by Broadwayfreak5357
Summary: A fluffy, weird (to me) fic that wouldn't get out of my brain! Inspired by Tim Daly and babies (2.14, anyone?) and my dad. About the McCords in parent mode! Enjoy xx
1. Chapter 1

**Fic inspired by Tim Daly and babies + my dad. I pulled some events from my childhood for this chapter. My dad used to sing this song to my sister and I when we were little, but she's the one that broke his heart though haha :)** **Shout out to AllDucksInARow! Congrats on your gorgeous children and other shenanigans xx**

 **Been ridiculously hesitant about posting this because UGH I don't know. I'm struggling hardcore with the rest of the story and where I want it to go, which is ridiculous because it's all just a collection of moments so I can go anywhere with it. I've been sitting on this chapter for…longer than I care to admit actually haha and I'm going to skim it once right now and then post before I chicken out for the millionth time, so my apologies for any typos/switching tenses/anything else that might annoy you. Feel free to shoot me a message and I'll look into edits!** **As always, reviews and general love/comments/constructive criticism would be massively appreciated! Thanks :)**

 **PS. Super quick shout out/reference in this chapter to the Guitar God, Eric Clapton, for obvious reasons :D**

* * *

 **When You Wish Upon A Star**

It started when Stevie was in the womb. She wouldn't stop kicking and squirming, no matter what they tried. She was an active little girl from the start, but all Elizabeth wanted was a good night's sleep and she would do anything to get it.

It was Henry that stumbled upon the fix. One night as he tuned and fiddled with his guitar, Elizabeth, who was seated on the edge of their bed, stopped in mid sentence.

Confused and a little concerned about his now silent wife, he stilled his guitar with an open palm and began to cross to the bed.

Elizabeth held up her hand and listened intently with one hand on her pregnant belly. Henry's blood ran cold.

"What?" he said frantically, wracking his brain for some explanation. "Is it the –"

"Shhhhh," Elizabeth hushed her husband, as a brilliant smile lit up her face.

Bemused, Henry left his guitar on the chair as he stood in front of his wife and waited for her to speak.

"Wait, Henry, play something again!" Elizabeth said excitedly.

Henry didn't know what to think, but he picked up his guitar and strummed a few chords. His wife's face softened, as she seemed pleased with whatever was happening in her uterus at the moment.

"Wanna fill me in, babe?" he said, still mindlessly strumming on his guitar.

"The baby stops moving whenever you play! It's like she knows that her daddy is just the _best_ musician and she wants to hear more of it! You're a baby whisperer! I think it soothes her," Elizabeth said with a hint of laughter. "Maybe this will finally make her sleep, which will make me sleep. So for the love of all that is holy, please keep playing!"

Elizabeth tried to turn over on her hands and knees to crawl up to the head of the bed, and Henry had to bite back laughter, learning early on to not anger a pregnant woman. Sometimes they were more than a little dangerous!

After much huffing and puffing, she finally made it to the head of the bed and slid partway under the covers, with her hands folded on top of her stomach.

"Well go on, Mr. Clapton, dazzle baby and me with your excellent guitar skills!"

He had to smile at his wife — even 7 months pregnant, she was just so vibrant and full of amazing energy. She was his other half; his soul mate; his everything; and he couldn't believe they were going to be parents in less than two months! _Sixty. Days._ He wasn't ready – okay, okay, time to play now, his audience was getting antsy.

Mentally flipping through his songbook, he almost cackled with glee. It was perfect. Nothing like introducing their baby to the magical world of Disney at an early age!

Henry sat on the edge of the bed, turning his body so that he could face Elizabeth, and began to sing softly.

 _When you wish upon a star_

 _Makes no difference who you are_

 _Anything your heart desires_

 _Will come to you_

Elizabeth's eyes fluttered close as she traced aimless circles on her belly. God, Henry's voice could always make her weak in the knees and she was so thankful for her cozy bed at the moment. Slipping away on the sound of her husband's voice, she and the baby both drifted off into a soothing, blissful sleep.

With amusement, Henry watched as his wife's hands stilled on her stomach and her head fell back onto her pillow. Deciding to finish out the song, he continued to the end.

 _Like a bolt out of the blue_

 _Fate steps in and sees you through_

 _When you wish upon a star_

 _Your dreams come true_

Henry gently stilled his guitar and placed it on a nearby armchair. He crossed to his side of the bed and quietly slid under the covers, hoping that Elizabeth didn't wake up. At this point in the pregnancy, his poor wife needed all the sleep she could get.

* * *

Light peeked through the curtains in the master bedroom, and Elizabeth stirred groggily. She yawned as she stretched her arms over her head and arched her back in a cat-like motion, as well as she could with her midsection the four times the size of a bowling ball. She felt a prickling on the back of her neck, and awkwardly rolled to her other side to find Henry staring at her.

"Morning, beautiful," he said as he greeted her with a kiss. The simple kiss ignited a fire in her belly, and she fought back a moan.

"Good morning," she whispered as she memorized every bit of his handsome face.

"Sleep well?"

She thought about it for a second. "Yeah, actually! You must have worked your magic on the baby last night, cause she was out like a light — a fact which her human incubator is obscenely grateful for," Elizabeth said with a laugh.

Henry smirked. "Oh yeah? How grateful?"

"Mmmmm we'll see, mister!" She teased as she pulled him in for a searing,  
toe-curling kiss. She pulled back and rested her forehead on his.

"Hopefully baby behaves today! Mommy has to sit in meetings and would very much appreciate not being kicked in the ribs all day," Elizabeth said with a laugh, knowing clearly that her daughter would do whatever she wanted to, Mommy's wishes be damned!

Henry smiled and began to kiss his way down Elizabeth's body; he rested his head on her stomach as he nestled between her legs. As he placed a gentle kiss on her stomach, he started one of his favorite pregnancy rituals: talking to the baby.

"Hi, baby girl," Henry said, hoping to get a kick in response. Sure enough, he wasn't disappointed, and Elizabeth watched in gratitude and amazement as a smile lit up her husband's face. That was a sight that would never get old.

"I need you to be extra good for Mommy today, okay? She's gonna have a long day and you're gonna have to chill. And then when you get home, I'll play you our song before you go to sleep - how's that sound?" Henry almost sounded pleading, and Elizabeth had to laugh.

"You know she probably can't understand anything you say, right? Just because her brain is developing doesn't mean she can wrap her head around the finer points of a McCord negotiation just yet," Elizabeth said, trying to poke as much fun as she could at her adorable husband.

Henry smirked. "Maybe our child is gifted, okay? After all, she does have our genetics. Maybe she takes after her brilliant mother."

"Oh, you are good, McCord!" Elizabeth said playfully. "Now help me get out of bed please, I feel like a whale!"

Henry chose not to respond to that statement, got out of bed and went to help his wife.

* * *

 _Four Years Later_

4-year-old Stevie was propped up on the couch, surrounded by her favorite stuffed animals, and she was miserable. The stupid baby was crying so Stevie didn't get her mommy's undivided attention, which she normally got when she was ill.

She heard the front door open and her face brightened. Daddy was home! He'd make everything better, and make Alison finally stop crying. She still wasn't 100% sold on this whole sibling business. So far, being a big sister sucked.

Henry came into the living room, holding a now-quiet Alison in his arms. He could almost feel the tension leech out of his wife, and the tension that left was almost immediately replaced with bone-crushing exhaustion. Still on maternity leave, Elizabeth had been stuck with a sick 4-year-old and a screaming newborn all day, and he felt a little guilty.

He called back to his wife. "Go lay down for a little, babe! Or go take a nice long bubble bath. I think Stevie and I got it covered, don't we?" He said with a wink in Stevie's direction.

He heard Elizabeth wearily trudge up the stairs, and knew unless the house was on fire or something, she wouldn't be leaving their bedroom for the rest of the night. Poor thing was exhausted.

Cradling Alison in one arm, he sat down on the couch and placed his other hand on Stevie's forehead.

"Mmmm, you don't feel warm to me. What are we going to watch this time?" Although Henry grumbled sometimes about Stevie's recent "princess" phase, he secretly loved it.

"Beauty and the Beast, Daddy! Belle is my favorite princess! She likes to read, just like me!" Stevie said with enthusiasm.

Henry inwardly groaned; Stevie had already watched that tape three times _this week_ — but he settled back on the couch with baby Alison in his arms and readied himself for round four.

Stevie hopped off the couch, popped the tape into the VCR and pressed play. The screen lit up with a blue and white Disney castle, surrounded by fireworks.

His oldest child tugged on Henry's arm, and he moved quickly to soothe Alison, who was disturbed by the jarring motion.

"Daddy, it's our song!" Stevie said enthusiastically, as the opening chords of _When You Wish Upon A Star_ began to play. She stopped bouncing on the couch and stared at the screen, mesmerized.

"Yeah, love bug, it is!" Henry said as he hummed along. He would always love the introduction to Disney films and the way they captivated his children. Even baby Alison was silent and intently listening to the orchestrated music that played from the speakers.

Surrounded by his two girls, with his beautiful wife sleeping upstairs, he tried to soak in the moment. He knew his girls wouldn't stay little forever; Stevie was already growing like a weed, and learning something new every day, and it seemed like Alison was already starting to develop her own little personality.

For now, he was grateful that his children were starting to develop a healthy appreciation for all things Disney. Growing up with two sisters, Henry himself partook in many Disney-themed adventures and tea parties, and he couldn't wait to share more of the Disney magic with his own girls.

* * *

 **A/N Round 2: Hey, I'm back! Rereading this was bleh. There might be more chapters, but I haven't decided if I'm going to post them or not. There's so much more I want to change and I'm not loving this story so much anymore for some reason. But whatever, I'm posting it, it's in the universe and maybe it'll make my writer's block go away because that would be fantastic! Hope y'all enjoyed xoxo**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi, friends! I've been sitting on this for long enough so I figured I would post. Again: I don't have kids, so a lot of this fic is me pulling stuff from my own childhood and making shit up as I go along :) Hope y'all enjoy – this is unbeta'ed so apologies for any and all mistakes ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯**

 **Chapter Two:**

Henry was having a rough day. He was stressing about being considered for tenure at UVA; his classes were boring him this semester; and so far he'd caught one student cheating on an exam about ethics, so that made him feel like a _fantastic_ ethics professor, obviously. With an eight year old, four year old and one year old at home, he was getting minimal sleep at best, and he didn't know how much more he could take before he snapped.

Henry took a deep breath, walked in the front door and was greeted by a cacophony of crying babies, arguing children, and clanging and what he assumed was some muffled cursing from the kitchen. Another day in paradise indeed, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

Assessing the situation, he decided to head to the kitchen first. As he rounded the corner into the kitchen, the muttering, and Jason's cries, grew louder.

Elizabeth didn't see him right away because she was trying to wrangle a blackened casserole from the oven. Jason was in the corner in a makeshift playpen, alternating between crying and intently watching his mother and babbling suggestions as if to help her with dinner.

Once his wife placed the casserole safely on the stove, he swooped in behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and nuzzling her neck.

Elizabeth startled for a second and then relaxed into Henry's arms.

"Hi, love," he said while peppering her neck with kisses.

Elizabeth turned around in his arms and kissed his cheek quickly, too distracted with worrying about her ruined dinner to fully concentrate on her husband.

She looked up at him and smiled. Despite all the chaos in their house, and in the world currently, he still looked at her like she hung the stars in the sky. Sometimes it was a nice reminder, amidst their hectic lives, that they were still solid. She was so grateful that it just took her breath away.

Until UVA, when Henry came into her life, she had almost forgotten what it was like to have a family. After the accident, she still had Will, of course, but the two siblings went to boarding school and their relationship seemed to unravel with every passing day. They were both so focused on trying to rebuild a sense of normalcy for themselves that they had forgotten the other was dealing with the same thing.

She shook her head and leaned in for another kiss. Henry had seen Elizabeth's eyes dim slightly, in thought, and knew she was remembering a time in her childhood when her house was just as crazy and hectic as right now.

Gentling their kiss, he leaned his forehead against hers, and moved his hands to rest on the granite counter top behind his wife, effectively boxing her in.

Jason began to whimper and then let out a throaty cry. He had seen his dad walk in the kitchen and wanted to cuddle. Henry chuckled at his son. Even when he was faced with full-blown, red-faced, infant rage, Jason was still one of the cutest babies Henry had ever seen in his life, and it was so hard to be mad at him.

"I've got Jason-duty tonight," Henry said to his wife as he ran his hands down the arms of his wife before moving toward Jason.

Jason stopped crying as soon as he saw Henry walk over to the playpen, smiled, and held up his little arms in a demand to be picked up. Choking back a smile, Henry almost found it hard to believe that baby Jason was so manipulative and would stop crying as soon as he knew he was getting parental attention. Tradecraft was apparently learned at an early age in the McCord household.

Soon after Stevie was born, his mother had visited the young family and proceeded to tell embarrassing stories about baby Henry the whole weekend. He could see the similarity between himself and baby Jason, and frankly, was more than a little thrilled by it.

Swinging his infant son up into his arms, Henry's heart burst when he heard Jason laugh in excitement. He turned around to face his wife, with Jason safely nestled against his chest, and caught a glimmer in her eye before she turned back to the stovetop to focus on salvaging dinner.

Elizabeth had made very clear that Jason was going to be their last baby — being blessed with three children was more than enough. Both parents wanted to be able to devote time to their family as well as advance their separate careers, and decided to limit their family to three offspring. Elizabeth had grown up with one sibling, and Henry had three, so having two siblings for Stevie seemed like a good compromise.

Humming and cradling Jason to his chest, Henry left the kitchen only to hear his eldest and middle child fighting in the living room. Sighing, he entered the living room mentally preparing to go to battle, as it were, and was surprised to see both girls sitting on opposite ends of the couch. They were facing each other, and arguing about — well, he honestly couldn't make out _what_ they were arguing about.

With one hand securely wrapped around Jason, he crossed the room and searched for something with the other. Finding the rectangular box in the cabinet, Henry did something he swore he would never do. But hey, he was exhausted, and desperate times called for desperate measures.

"Girls!" Henry raised his voice, but only a bit as to not disturb a sleepy Jason.

Stevie and Alison stopped in mid-fight and turned to face their father, hoping they weren't about to get into trouble. They slid toward each other on the couch; believing that two heads were better than one, especially if it was in order to talk themselves back into their daddy's good graces.

He popped a VHS tape into the VCR player and turned on the television. A blue glow and the Disney theme song soon filled the room.

Turning back to his now-angelic children on the couch, he held up one finger, still cradling Jason with the other arm.

"Girls, it's been a long day and this normally doesn't happen before dinner, but just this once, Mom and I will allow you to watch a Disney tape until dinnertime. But _only_ if you promise to stop fighting and give us all some peace and quiet," Henry said in a mix of resignation and amusement.

The two girls glanced at each other, seemed to silently agree on a movie, and Stevie decided to speak, before being cut off by Henry.

"I know, I know, Beauty and the Beast it is!" He said, thankful that he didn't have to watch it with them again this week.

"You can watch your tape, but I'm going to put Jason down for a quick nap before dinner, so keep it to a dull roar," Henry said as he walked upstairs to Jason's nursery.

Those girls were going to be the death of him.

Humming _When You Wish Upon A Star_ , Henry retrieved Jason's stuffed dog from the low table in the nursery, and placed his sleeping son, along with Pongo, in the crib. A gift from his uncle Will, Pongo was Jason's first stuffed animal, and he didn't like sleeping without the plush toy. Settling his son down for a nap while humming the magic song, Henry quickly an quietly made his way back downstairs, baby monitor in hand, and headed for the kitchen.

Cooking wasn't one of Elizabeth's strong suits, but she had decided to try an easier recipe for dinner tonight. By the looks of the blackened, crumbling casserole, she didn't succeed.

Grabbing ingredients out of the pantry, Henry quickly assembled the makings for pasta on the kitchen island, while Elizabeth sat to watch him. She always marveled at his skill, and thanked God that she married a man who could cook. Lord knows she burned everything she touched in the kitchen. She was hungry though, after her failed attempt at dinner, and pasta looked, smelled and sounded perfect!

Dinner was always a hectic affair, and this night in the McCord household was no exception. Stevie and Alison happily chattered on about their respective days, and Henry took over the chore, as it were, of feeding Jason, so his lovelier half could eat her meal in relative peace.

Each of the children had different bedtimes. Jason was the first to be tucked into bed, as he was restless during the night and then four-year-old Alison went to bed shortly after. Being eight, Stevie was allowed to stay up a little later but was normally asleep by 8pm. And every night, Henry would sing each of his children to sleep with their special song.

On this night, like so many others, he trudged upstairs to Stevie's room, and prepared to tuck his girl into bed. Elizabeth was dealing with a fussy Jason, so he was on his own for this one. His wife was completely tone-deaf, but she still tucked her children into bed, minus the singing, of course.

When Henry entered Stevie's room, she was propped up in bed, staring intently at a book in her hands.

"Hi, dad," she said, sounding uncharacteristically glum.

"Hey, sweetheart! Just wanted to come say goodnight." Henry sat on the end of her bed and was going to break out into song – the only time he was a major cheeseball, or so he'd like to think, was at the kids' bedtimes – when Stevie stopped him nervously.

"Dad?"

"Yeah, sweetie?"

Stevie fidgeted around under the covers before deciding to just rip off the Band-Aid.

Gathering her resolve, she said, "Daddy, you don't have to sing our song any more if you don't want to. I'm a big girl now and bedtime songs are for babies."

Henry felt like he got punched in the gut. He tried to hide his hurt – he knew the kids were growing up and this day would come sooner or later, but he didn't want it to be today. He wasn't ready.

Trying to pretend like his eldest daughter hadn't just broken his heart a little, he cleared his throat and smiled at Stevie, who was anxiously sitting in bed waiting for him to say something.

"It's okay, love! I won't be mad; you're just growing up and it makes Daddy feel a little sad — that's all. We can come up with something else special, just for us. Sound cool?"

Stevie nodded and grinned, pleased by her father's reaction.

"Alright then, off to bed with you. Your book will be waiting in the morning," Henry said with a chuckle. "And I think Mom's going to come in and say goodnight shortly."

Henry held his hands apart to indicate how much he loved his daughter.

"Love you this much."

Kissing her on the forehead, he left her room, leaving the door open just a crack to let in some rays from the hallway nightlight.

Henry stood outside the bedroom and ran a hand over his pained face, and willed the tears to stop pooling in his eyes.

Elizabeth backed out of Jason's room, shutting the light off as she exited, and caught sight of her husband halfway down the hall. Crossing quietly to meet him, she glanced at him questioningly and then made a shooing motion to their bedroom at the end of the hallway, while she went to hug Stevie goodnight.

Moments later, she appeared in their bedroom. Henry was lying on his stomach on the bed, with his hands wedged flat under his hips, and she had to bite back a laugh. Earlier that day, she had seen Alison do the very same thing on the living room floor when something hadn't gone her way. Smoothing her features, she clambered on the bed; and propped herself up on one elbow beside him.

"Hey there, Captain. Anything on your mind?" She asked, running one hand through his hair.

Henry was silent for a moment, and then turned his face toward Elizabeth, away from the comforter on the bed, which was only slightly restricting his breathing.

"I tucked Stevie into bed tonight," Henry said.

Elizabeth was confused. "Okay…isn't that something you do every night though? What's up?"

Henry looked down, playing with the loose fabric of the comforter, and then came out with it.

"Stevie's gotten too old for our song. She told me I didn't have to sing it any more because she was a big girl, and not a baby. When the hell did that even happen? Did we blink and miss it? Because last time I checked, Stevie was four and still crawling into bed with us every night because she was afraid of the monsters under her bed," he said wistfully.

Elizabeth was suddenly filled with a bone-deep sadness, for her husband, and for their little girl who seemed to be growing up way too fast.

"Awww, honey," Elizabeth tried to comfort him.

"Well hey, think of it this way, at least you've still got Alison hooked for a solid five more years probably, and Jason for a few years after that! That's still something!" She snuggled into his side, burrowing for warmth.

Leaning into his ear, she whispered to her husband. "And then when they're all grown up, you can sing to me! I need to be tucked in too," she said with a mischievous grin.

Kissing his neck, she got up from the side of the bed and threw back the covers to crawl into her side.

"Come on, babe, let's go to bed. You can still stew about this in the morning if you really want to," Elizabeth said. She tried not to mock him, she really did, but she had to admit to herself; it was really funny.

Henry shuffled around to his side of the bed, slid under the covers and immediately felt Elizabeth's ice-cold feet on his legs.

He could hear her snickering as she always did when she had icy feet, which was most of the time. Elizabeth leaned in for a kiss, and then both of them were out like a light. Having three kids under the age of ten would do that to you – they were exhausted ninety nine percent of the time, but they wouldn't have it any other way.


End file.
